Page 20 June 2011
Page 18 September 2012
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The
Southern Cross | schools
Mount Carmel College Boys
powered ahead to become
outright winners of the
Queensland All-Schools Pedal
Prix, with the Mount Carmel
Girls coming a close second in
their category.
More than 70 teams took to the
track on Friday, July 27 for the
human-powered vehicle race on
the coveted national speedway,
Willowbank Raceway, with
Mount Carmel Racing Open
Boys team completing 184
laps, a full six laps clear of their
nearest rival.
In doing so, they managed first
place in the Open category, as
well as outright honours.
This amazing effort was
supported by the Open Girls
team, who completed 150
laps, to finish second in their
category.
This follows 2011’s success
with the Mount Carmel Open
Girls claiming the winning
position in their division.
This year the sprint stage had
the boys’ team crossing the
line in just 19.125 seconds, at
an average speed of more than
53km/h.
This was followed closely by the
girls’ team, who crossed the line
in 21.435 seconds, new record
times for both teams.
MCC Racing are now preparing
for the biggest event in their
race calendar, the Australian
International Pedal Prix, to be
held in Murray Bridge over
the weekend of the 15 and 16
September.
MCC Racing will have four
teams competing in a range of
categories this year, and very
much hope to build on their
recent success in Queensland.
“A big congratulations to all
MCC students on their effort,
hard work, determination and
sportsmanship,” proud MCC
Racing Pedal Prix Coordinator,
Adam Giancaspro said.
Mount Carmel pedal power
NUMBER ONE: The MCC Racing Open Boys team celebrate
their win (from left to right): Fraser Stewart, Harry Anderson,
Bradley Williams, Jack Cooper, Tom Allison, Jake Westover,
Mitchell Hampton and James Reardon.
The use of punitive measures, such as
“lines” and “time-out”, to manage student
behaviour is ineffective says St Mary’s
College principal Eileen Young.
“We don’t have suspensions and time
out here because we don’t just tackle the
behaviour; we tackle the issues behind it,”
she said.
For the past seven years, St Mary’s
College has used Restorative Justice
Practices to better resolve conflict and
work with students, their parents and
teachers. It was introduced by Ms Young
in 2005 – a year after she took over the
inner-city school with 800 students from
Reception to Year 12.
The core theory behind Restorative Justice
is using a very personal case management
approach to conflict by identifying the
harm caused, who was hurt and how the
hurt can be best resolved.
Ms Young said punitive measures and
exclusion from class tended to create a
revolving door of disengaged students
who resented school more and more and
did little to build their self-esteem.
“Restorative Justice de-victimises people,
gives students a voice and offenders an
opportunity to develop empathy as they
come to better understand the impact
their behaviour has on others and how
they can bring back some balance to their
damaged relationships.”
The College has employed three
counsellors and has three sub-school
directors, in addition to about 70
teachers, who assist the principal and
deputy principal student well-being in
implementing the often time-consuming
Restorative Justice approach.
“It’s a big investment of staff, time and
effort,” said Ms Young.
The Centre for Restorative Justice in
Adelaide (a division of the Offenders Aid
and Rehabilitation Services of SA) has
trained more than 400 South Australian
schools in Restorative Justice Practices
since 1997. More than 20 Catholic schools
are aware of, and are using, Restorative
Justice as part of their school policies.
Centre for Restorative Justice coordinator
Debbie Laycock said: “Schools have
noticed reductions in time out and
exclusions and increases in feelings of
well-being among students and staff.”
Ms Young said the outcomes were
invaluable and really reflected the Catholic
ethos of pastoral care and support. “We
have a parent body that believes in what
we are doing; students knowing that
relationships underpin this community;
and staff having a clear understanding
about responses to behaviour.”
ROUND TABLE: St Mary’s College principal Eileen Young with Year 8 students (L-R) Aichlinn Duffy and Alyssa Grdovic .
Investing in justice at St Mary’s
Senior students from Port Augusta’s
Caritas College produced hand-
made learning aids for children and
youth with special needs as part of
their Year 12 Child Studies subject.
The creative learning aids crafted
for Miriam High and Port Augusta
Special School students included
puppets, a xylophone, a textured
wooden cube, a textured sound
wheel, interactive and textured
story books, and a pizza and cake
covered with different felt toppings
and decorations.
The Caritas students spent time
with staff and students at both
schools to better understand the
children’s needs and spend time
playing and interacting with them as
part of the design process.
At the College, the Caritas
students spent time designing and
collaborating with art and tech
teachers to create the learning aids,
which were recently delivered.
Feedback has been overwhelmingly
and the learning aids have been
used extensively. While the Caritas
College students enjoyed making
the learning aids, the strong
connections they made with the
children and their determination
to create something that would be
useful and fun for those children
was the greater experience.
Made with love